1．歷史名城帝王都

1．歷史名城帝王都

北京坐落于華北平原的北部，它的西北是燕山、太行山脈，東南是廣闊的平原。作為東北平原與蒙古高地、熱河山地與松遼平原的交通要道，北京自古就有“承萬世帝王之都”的評(píng)價(jià)。

北京是人類文明的發(fā)祥地之一，早在約70萬年前，北京西南的周口店地區(qū)，已經(jīng)有猿人在這里活動(dòng)，他們就是舉世聞名的“北京人”。“北京人”處于原始社會(huì)的早期，憑借木棒和石器制造的簡單工具從事狩獵和采集。約五六千年之前，北京地區(qū)進(jìn)入了新石器時(shí)代，人們開始了以農(nóng)牧業(yè)為主的定居生活。

商朝時(shí)，北京地區(qū)在政治關(guān)系上不受商朝的管轄，但卻受到以青銅器為主要特征的商朝文化的強(qiáng)烈影響。

周王朝采用分封諸侯的辦法來擴(kuò)大直接的統(tǒng)治區(qū)域，在這一時(shí)期，北京地區(qū)以封國的形式被納入了周王朝的政治體系。

北京地區(qū)屬于薊國和燕國，相傳燕國是召公的封地，薊國是堯的后代的封地，燕國都城在今北京房山縣境內(nèi)。薊國的都城就是薊城，大致在今廣安門附近。關(guān)于薊城這個(gè)名字的由來在北魏地理學(xué)家酈道元的名著《水經(jīng)注》中有比較可信的解釋，在薊城的西北角有一個(gè)突出地面的小山岡，叫做薊丘，薊丘漸漸成為薊城一個(gè)顯著的地理標(biāo)志，于是這座城市就叫做薊城了。中國歷史上魯國的曲阜、齊國的營丘也都是這樣的來歷。

后來燕國吞并了薊國，并且將都城遷到了薊城，燕國就成了北京地區(qū)唯一的諸侯國，薊城成了北京地區(qū)的中心城市。

隨著燕國的不斷發(fā)展壯大，在春秋戰(zhàn)國時(shí)期，燕國已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的諸侯國，直到公元前226年，秦國大將王翦攻破薊城，燕國滅亡。秦統(tǒng)一全國后，在燕國的領(lǐng)土上設(shè)置了六個(gè)郡，其中廣陽郡的治所就在薊城。薊城位于秦朝版圖的東北部，是通往東北地區(qū)的重要門戶。在漢族中央王朝和東北少數(shù)民族之間的交流上，起著十分重要的作用。

兩漢時(shí)期，鐵制工具開始廣泛應(yīng)用，薊城的經(jīng)濟(jì)也有了顯著的發(fā)展，統(tǒng)治者還在漁陽（今北京密云縣內(nèi)）設(shè)置了鐵官，管理這一帶的鐵器生產(chǎn)。東漢時(shí)有位叫做張堪的漁陽太守，還曾發(fā)動(dòng)人們開墾水田，引水種植水稻。

三國時(shí)期為了解決農(nóng)業(yè)用水，在薊城附近修建了戾陵遏和車箱渠。戾陵遏是利用永定河的水源建造的攔水壩，車箱渠是一條引水渠，這是北京歷史上最早的大規(guī)模水利工程。

隋唐時(shí)期，薊城的軍事地位十分突出。唐朝時(shí)改涿郡為幽州，治所仍在薊城，因此薊城又叫做幽州城。隋朝時(shí)，薊城是兵馬糧餉的集結(jié)地。唐太宗發(fā)動(dòng)對(duì)高麗的戰(zhàn)爭時(shí)，曾親自率領(lǐng)主力部隊(duì)在幽州城誓師，被迫撤退時(shí)，唐太宗在幽州城東南角修建了一座悼念陣亡將士的廟宇，命名為憫忠祠，后來經(jīng)過多次重修，改名為法源寺，至今仍然是北京市區(qū)重要的寺廟之一。

755年，安祿山在幽州起兵，攻打到洛陽和長安，發(fā)動(dòng)了歷史上有名的“安史之亂”。長達(dá)8年的安史之亂給人們帶來了巨大的災(zāi)難，幽州城同樣也受到了嚴(yán)重的破壞。

936年，東北地區(qū)的契丹族占據(jù)了幽州城，改國號(hào)為遼，并在這里修建了陪都，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)陪都位于遼國管轄的區(qū)域的南部，所以稱作南京，又叫燕京，歷史上又稱遼南京。但遼政權(quán)的存在對(duì)北宋王朝構(gòu)成了極大的威脅，北宋統(tǒng)治者曾多次派軍隊(duì)攻打遼國，希望收復(fù)燕云十六州，卻是屢戰(zhàn)屢敗。后來北宋與遼簽訂了和約，形成了長時(shí)間的南北對(duì)峙局面。直到在遼國后方崛起的女真族統(tǒng)一后，與宋朝政權(quán)聯(lián)合攻打遼國。1023年金軍首先攻取了遼南京，經(jīng)過反復(fù)交涉，在索取了大量的財(cái)物之后，金軍才將一座空城還給了宋朝。北宋將南京改名為燕山府。但不到兩年時(shí)間，金軍又卷土重來，重新占領(lǐng)了燕山府，并且長驅(qū)直入，攻占了汴梁，北宋滅亡。金朝的統(tǒng)治者把遠(yuǎn)在松花江上的會(huì)寧遷到燕山府，并改稱中都，這時(shí)，北京城作為中國封建王朝統(tǒng)治中心的歷史才真正開始。

13世紀(jì)，蒙古族在金朝的北方漸漸強(qiáng)大起來，1215年南下攻占金朝中都，隨后又滅掉金朝。但蒙古人攻占中都以后并沒有對(duì)其加以利用，直到20多年后，蒙古首領(lǐng)忽必烈才決定在這里重建新都，名為大都。忽必烈放棄了中都舊城，在舊城的東北郊營建新的都城。新都城從蓮花水系轉(zhuǎn)移到了高粱水系，這樣就為城市提供了較為充沛的水源，有利于城市的長遠(yuǎn)發(fā)展。建成后的元大都成為當(dāng)時(shí)世界上最繁華的城市。宮殿富麗堂皇，商業(yè)繁華，交通便利。意大利旅行家馬可·波羅在他的旅行游記中曾用樸實(shí)生動(dòng)的語言敘述了700多年前北京城的美麗與壯觀。

1368年明軍攻占大都，元朝滅亡。除了將其改名為北平之外，明軍還對(duì)這座城市進(jìn)行了一番改造，在舊的北城墻以內(nèi)又修建了一座新的城墻，墻上設(shè)置了安定門、德勝門，這就形成了明代北京城的北界。

明朝初年，朱元璋封他的第四個(gè)兒子朱棣鎮(zhèn)守北平，稱為燕王。朱元璋死后，朱棣奪取了政權(quán)，稱為明成祖。為了進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)對(duì)東北的控制，他決定將首都從南京遷到北平，然后改北平為北京。也正是從這時(shí)起，北京這一名稱才在歷史上第一次出現(xiàn)，并沿用至今。

明朝北京城的營建前后延續(xù)了15年，凝結(jié)了人們的智慧和血汗，當(dāng)時(shí)大批的工匠和建筑家都被迫投入到宮殿的修建中來，動(dòng)用了上百萬的人力。明朝時(shí)期對(duì)北京城改建的重點(diǎn)工程在紫禁城和皇城的修建上，紫禁城的城墻外移，擴(kuò)大了紫禁城的空間，同時(shí)拉開了與皇城的距離，在紫禁城內(nèi)連續(xù)修建了幾座金碧輝煌的宮殿。在營建宮城的同時(shí)還對(duì)大城進(jìn)行了一系列的改造，天壇、日壇、月壇等也都是在這一時(shí)期修建的。

明朝末年，李自成率領(lǐng)農(nóng)民起義，攻占北京城，明朝滅亡。清軍隨即入關(guān)，建立了中國歷史上最后一個(gè)封建王朝。這一時(shí)期的北京基本保持了明朝時(shí)的布局，經(jīng)濟(jì)文化有了進(jìn)一步的發(fā)展，北京也日益成為全國的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化和交流的中心，城市居民民族成分繁多，市內(nèi)還出現(xiàn)了具有鮮明民族特色的建筑。另外清代的園林建筑也十分輝煌，著名的暢春園、圓明園、頤和園等都是這一時(shí)期建造的。

1. History

Located on the northern tip of the North China Plain and facing Mount Yan and Taihang Mountains to its northeast and a boundless plain to its south, Beijing enjoys easy access to the Northeast China Plain, the Mongolian Plateau, the hilly area in Rehe and the Songliao Plain. It has been titled "an eternal capital of emperors" since ancient times.

Beijing is one of the cradles of human civilization. About 700,000 years ago, there lived some apemen in the area around today's Zhoukoudian (in the southwest of Beijing). They are the world-famous "Peking Man". Still in an early stage of the primitive society, Peking Man made a living on hunting and collecting with wooden sticks and simple stone-made tools. Around five or six thousand years ago, Beijing area entered into the Neolithic Age when agricultural production was started and thus human beings began to settle down.

In the Shang dynasty, though Beijing was not under the political rule of the dynasty, it was greatly subject to its bronze culture.

In the Zhou dynasty, emperors ruled and expanded the territory by appointing dukes or princes. It was in this period that Beijing was incorporated into the political system of the Zhou dynasty which established two ducal states in today's Beijing area-the State of Ji and the State of Yan which were said to be the manor of Duke Shao and the manor of the offspring of Yao respectively (Yao, together with Shun and Yu are three famous leaders in the early primitive society in the Chinese legend.). The capital of Yan was in today's Fangshan District while the capital of Ji, named Ji city was around today's Guang'anmen. Li Daoyuan, an geographer in the Eastern Wei dynasty explained in his famous work The Commentary on Waterways Classic why the city was named such: Northwest of the city, there was a projecting hillock called Jiqiu ("qiu" literally means hillock) which gradually became the landmark of the city and thus the city was named after the hillock as Ji. Many other cities in Chinese history got their names in a similar way, such as Qufu, the capital of the State of Lu in the Warring States Period, as well as Yingqiu, the capital of the State of Qi in the same period.

Later, Yan state annexed Ji state and became the only ducal state in present-day Beijing. As Yan moved its capital to Ji city, Ji city became the centre of this area.

During the Spring and Autumn Period & Warring States period, Yan was already very strong, but was finally defeated by General Wang Jian of the State of Qin in 226 BC.

After the State of Qin annexed all the other ducal states and established the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, on the territory of the former Yan six prefectures were ordered to be set, one of which was Guangyang prefecture with Ji city as the seat of the local government. Lying in the northeast of Qin's territory, Ji city was an important passage to the northeast and thus a bridge for communication between the Han-ruled central government and the minorities living in the northeast.

In the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties, the wide use of iron-made tools remarkably propelled economic development in Ji city. The feudal central government appointed in Yuyang (in today's Miyun County of Beijing) an Iron Official to exclusively govern the production of iron-made tools. In the Eastern Han dynasty, a prefect of Yuyan whose name was Zhang Kan encouraged his people to reclaim paddy fields.

In the Three Kingdoms Period, near Ji city, a dam called Liling'e was built over the Yongding River and an irrigation trench named Che'xiangqu was dug to help agricultural production. This is the first large-scale irrigation works in Beijing's history.

In the Sui dynasty and the following Tang dynasty, the military significance of Ji city was pronounced more than ever. In Sui, the city was a place for stationing soldiers and horses and storing food and feed. Then the ruler of the Tang dynasty elevated today's Beijing which was then called Zhuo prefecture into Youzhou (zhou is a local administration adopted by the Tang court).. Thus, Ji city, still the seat of the local government, was named Youzhou city where later Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty made some encouraging remarks to his soldiers before he waged the war against Goryeo (today's Korean Peninsular). Unable to win and forced to withdraw, the Emperor ordered the construction in the city's southeast corner of a temple in memory of the soldiers who died and named it the Memorial Temple of the Loyal which was later renamed as Fayuan Temple (Temple of Source of Buddhist Teaching). Today, the temple still remains an important one in Beijing.

In 755, An Lushan, the governor of Youzhou city rose in revolt and assaulted all the way to Luoyang and Chang'an, which is known as "An-Shi Rebellion" in the Chinese history. It lasted eight years, bringing much grief to ordinary people and severe destructions to Youzhou city.

In the Northern Song dynasty, across the northeast land of China, a minority called Khitan gradually built up its muscle. In 936, they occupied Youzhou city and made it the secondary capital of the Khitan Liao dynasty. Since Youzhou city was located south of Liao, it was named Nanjing (which means "southern capital"). Regarding the existence of Liao as a big threat to their rule, the rulers of the Northern Song dynasty ordered several fights against Liao in the hope of recovering the sixteen prefectures in the present-day Beijing, but all in vain. Unable to conquer the minority, the Northern Song dynasty finally reached an agreement with Liao, assuring peace between the two dynasties for a long time until the rise of another minority group Jurchen who established the Jin dynasty (1115-1234). In 1023, Jin forces, who had agreed with Northern Song to jointly fight Liao, captured Nanjing. After several negotiations, they returned Nanjing to the Northern Song after taking away all the properties and the Northern Song dynasty renamed the city Yanshan Fu ("Fu" is an administrative area in ancient China, usually larger than a county). However, barely two years later, Jin forces once again occupied Yanshan Fu and even the capital of the Northern Song dynasty-Bianliang, marking the end of the Northern Song dynasty. The ruler of Jin moved the capital from Huining which was on the bank of the Songhua River to Yanshan Fu and renamed it Zhongdu (which literally means "central capital"). This is the first time in history that Beijing was made the ruling centre of a feudal dynasty.

In the 13th century, Mongolians, who lived north of the Jin dynasty, were building up their strength. In 1215, they marched all the way south to Zhongdu, occupied the city and finally defeated the Jin dynasty; however, the city was left largely idle until twenty years later the Mongolian leader Kublai Khan set his sights on building a new capital to the northeast of Zhongdu and named the new capital Dadu (Cambalu). With magnificent palaces, prosperous markets and convenient transportation, Dadu, the capital of the Yuan dynasty became the world's most prosperous and spectacular city, as revealed by the plain yet vivid words of the Italian traveler Marco Polo in his travel notes.

In 1368, Dadu was seized by the Ming forces, marking the demise of the Yuan dynasty. And the name of the city was changed into Beiping which literally means "peace in the north". Inside the original north city wall, a new one with two gates-Anding Gate and Desheng Gate- was built, forming the north boundary of the city. ("Anding" literally means stability while "desheng" literally means "triumph".)

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, dispatched his fourth son Zhu Di to Beiping and entitled him Prince Yan who finally seized the throne and became the new emperor known as Emperor Chengzu after the old emperor passed away. In order to strengthen his control over the northeast, Zhu Di decided to move the capital from Nanjing to Beiping and renamed Beiping Beijing. Thus Beijing (which literally means "northern capital") was first heard in history and the name has been maintained till now.

Beijing was built with wisdom, sweat and toil. During the fifteen years of construction, numerous artisans and architects as well as millions of manual workers were forced to dedicate themselves to the huge project: the wall of the Forbidden City was moved further outside, thus expanding its space and the space between the Forbidden City and the Imperial City; several splendid palaces rose from the ground of the Forbidden City; and a number of building complexes were erected including those we still see today - the Temple of Heaven, the Altar to the Sun, the Altar to the Moon as well as many other landmarks.

Eventually, the Ming dynasty was overthrown by an uprising lead by a farmer Li Zicheng. Having driven the last emperor of Ming out of the Forbidden City, Li dreamed of becoming the emperor and enjoying a luxurious life, only to be expelled by a minority from the northeast, Manchu, who established the last feudal dynasty in the Chinese history, the Qing dynasty.

In the Qing dynasty, Beijing was nearly in the same layout as in the Ming dynasty; but economic and cultural activities were more vigorous. Beijing gradually became the political, economic and cultural center of the country. As its residents were of different ethnic backgrounds, buildings with ethnic characteristics were constructed. Moreover, construction of imperial gardens was in full swing in that many famous gardens were built, such as Changchun Garden (also known as Garden of Exhilarating Spring, Yuanming Yuan (also known as the Old Summer Palace) and the Summer Palace.